Cypress Care
Cypress is a beautiful wood that will enhance any homes interior or exterior. With proper care it can last a lifetime. Proper drying, priming, installation and finishing will help ensure the lasting beauty and durability of cypress for many years.
Cypress siding is a quality wood product dried in accordance with the NHLA. Finished Grades – 15% maximum moisture content. Common Grades – 18% maximum moisture content. Siding material must be conditioned to the local average in-service moisture content before installation, usually between 8% and 16%. To reach climatic balance, store the siding under cover and off the ground in a well ventilated area for a week to 10 days before installation. This will help minimize any swelling or shrinking after installation. If the siding gets wet allow it to dry before installing. Other construction material must be dry before siding is applied.
Priming or pre-finishing all sides, ends and edges after the siding has reached climatic balance and before it is installed will also minimize objectionable unfinished lines where joints open up because of shrinkage in width. Cypress siding takes stains very well. Exterior transparent and semi-transparent stains allow the beauty of the grain to show but do not last as long as opaque stains or paint systems, and must be maintained more frequently. An alkyd primer and two acrylic topcoats provide the most durable paint system on siding. Priming or pre-finishing will improve the ability of cypress to endure harsh weather condition and increase its serviceability.
Nails must be long enough to pierce the thickness of the siding and the sheathing, plus penetrate 1-1 ½ inches into the stud. Rigid foam sheathing does not provide any significant nail holding power. Use corrosion resistant nails such as double hot dipped galvanized or stainless steel. Stainless steel nails may cost more but abrasions on nail heads from hand nailing double hot dipped galvanized nails may cause black streaks later. Siding nails should be blunt-pointed to reduce splitting.
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